What Should I Spend on a Bottle of Wine

Have you ever wondered how much you should spend on a bottle of wine? Contrary to common belief, there is often not a direct correlation between price and quality in wine. Many wines are overpriced because of inflated market demand, ambition, greed or just because a marketing person sees an opportunity for pricing specific wines at a higher price. An example is wines where you see label statements like “limited,” “from bin number 99”, “select,” etc. These are just marketing ploys.

The difference in quality between wines at the top and bottom ends of the price scale is narrower than it has ever been, while the difference in price has never been greater. Clever wine buyers head for reliable example of underpriced wines.

Packaging, shipping, marketing, and in many countries local taxes and duties tend to account for by far the majority of the price of very cheap wines, with the cost of the liquid itself representing a tiny fraction of how much you are paying. Name recognition is responsible for much of the selling price of more expensive wines. For this reason, the best value is generally in the range of $15-$30 a bottle. Here, you more or less get what you pay for.